CfC Stanbic Bank Kenya scoops two international banking awards

CfC Stanbic Bank Kenya, Chief Executive, Mr. Philip Odera

CfC Stanbic Bank Kenya has been named the Best Forex Provider and Best Sub-Custodian at the EMEA Finance’s Treasury Services Awards and Global Finance's World's Best Bank Awards, 2015. The awards were presented at the Sibos conference in Singapore.

Commenting on the awards, Regional Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Mike Blades said that the bank is delighted to have won the two prestigious international awards, reaffirming the outstanding level of expertise and service provided by the bank to its clients.

“These international awards provide further confirmation of the success of our client-focused strategy and desire to serve clients through our well-established on-the-ground presence in Kenya and the East African region and our global connectivity that links clients to opportunities in Africa,” said Mr Blades.

During the same awards, Standard Bank Group, CfC Stanbic Bank’s parent company, collected 22 awards in total amongst them being the Best FX Services in Africa and Best Transactional Bank for Financial Institutions in Africa by EMEA Finance’s Treasury Services Awards 2015.

Standard Bank has been a recipient of the EMEA Finance’s Treasury Services Award for the sixth consecutive year. Acknowledging all 22 awards, Hasan Khan, Standard Bank’s Head of Transactional Products and Services, said: “The African growth story is on everyone’s lips and as a bank; we need to ensure we are providing financial solutions that address the needs of the various participants involved in the value chain. Having built strong in-country advisory capabilities, Standard Bank is able to deliver a full range of corporate and investment banking services to clients across Africa.”

Global Finance Magazine awarded Standard Bank 20 accolades, across several categories, including trade finance, payments and collections, cash management, short-term investments/money market funds and sub-custody.

These awards were adjudicated against specific criteria such as volume, market share and customer service. Standard Bank Group was chosen by the Global Finance editorial team along with input from expert sources.

Standard Bank consolidates its East African presence with official opening of Ethiopian representative office

Standard Bank Group operating as CfC Stanbic Bank in Kenya has expanded its already extensive East African footprint with the official opening of a representative office in Ethiopia. This means that Standard Bank, which is Africa’s largest bank by assets, has a continent-wide footprint in 20 African countries.

The representative office, which is based in Addis Ababa, was opened by Standard Bank Chief Executive, Ben Kruger. It will act as an entry point for clients seeking to invest in Ethiopia and will be administered by Standard Bank’s head office in South Africa

The growth potential for the East African region continues to attract significant investment. With an established presence across four of the key markets in the region, namely Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, the opening of the Ethiopian representative office is indicative of the group’s commitment to the region.

“As a bank rooted in Africa, our vision is to build a leading financial institution that delivers superior products and services for all our customers. We are able to leverage our strong position on the continent, our strategic partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and our sector expertise in natural resources, to facilitate capital investment in support of growth and to connect African markets to each other,” says Mr. Kruger.

Ethiopia’s remarkable growth has been underpinned by high public investment and a growing consumer base. The country boasts the second largest population on the continent, behind Nigeria, at around 90 million. GDP growth has averaged about 10.0% over the past 5 years. Heavy public investment in agriculture, energy and transport are likely to continue to support growth in the medium term as the government ramps up its productive sectors.

The energy sector is also set to boom with power projects at various stages of development, and with Ethiopia emerging as a major power hub in the region, energy exports will likely become a major foreign exchange earner in the near future. Industry and manufacturing, a top priority for Ethiopia, are likely to start making a more significant contribution in the country’s GDP going forward which will largely be facilitated by the increase electricity supply.

“As such, establishing a presence in Ethiopia is in recognition of the increasing interest by investors and our clients, in the country’s economic growth. Standard Bank will be well-positioned to take advantage of the cross-sectorial investment opportunities both in Ethiopia and the region as a whole.  Our experience in East African markets will benefit all our clients by providing them with insights into how best to capitalise on their investments in the region,” said Mr Kruger.

 “We believe that we are uniquely positioned to support the government’s plans in attracting more investments into the country through our client base on the continent and facilitating the financing on their behalf,” said Ms Taitu Wondwosen, Head of Coverage Ethiopia.

Airtel’s Money head feted at the Annual IT Women Conference

Airtel Kenya’s Head of Airtel Money Topyster Muga has been crowned the IT Woman of the Year at the first Annual IT Women Conference in Sub-Saharan Africa organized by Techno Brain- Kenya. 

Dubbed the Pink Potential Initiative, the event brought together over 100 women in the IT industry to mentor, inspire and network and is aimed at celebrating the great achievements by women in the industry.

Lydia Njaaga, Microsoft Products Director presents a certificate to Airtel's head of Airtel Money, Topyster Muga.

Topyster was recognized for her contribution in the IT industry having spearheaded innovation of the Airtel Money Pesa Card – a Visa card mirroring the Airtel Money account, being part of the project steering committee to spearhead the formation of the mobile money association of Kenya and winning the Nelson Mandela scholarship award to undertake an MBA at INSEAD Business School in France and previously while at Vodafone Group, leading the launch of M-Pesa in several emerging markets.

“Pink Potential fosters a mentoring approach.  Mentoring is a critical link to career advancement because it enhances employee satisfaction, improves retention, advances business objectives, and increases productivity.  It can also enrich the professional and personal lives of both mentor and protégé. We are excited for Topyster and for Airtel for demonstrating their support for women in IT,” said Sarah Richson, Global HR Director, Techno Brain Group.

She added: “One of our key objectives is to recognize and celebrate IT women who are making a difference in their world as well as to inspire more women into an IT career trajectory and leadership. Toppy has exhibited this in her leadership and the strides she has made at Airtel.”

On her part, Topyster noted: “I am humbled to be the recipient of this award. This clearly is a recognition of the continuous effort that women in Kenya continue to put in the IT sector. This recognition is a great motivation to hundreds of women who continue to give their contribution in different sectors of the economy and is also a challenge to our young women who are inspired to achieve their dreams.”     

“Women are breaking barriers and succeeding in careers that many could never have imagined. Topyster’ s recognition is a timely motivation to our women employees and many others in different sectors who need to believe in their potential to succeed in whatever fields they want to pursue,” noted Airtel Kenya Chief Executive Officer Adil El Youssefi.

The Annual Women IT conference is an event that seeks to acknowledge individuals who have spearheaded innovative new software or products, or generally-available IT services, that make the biggest contribution to business technology or to IT in general. 

Twitter polls launched

Now everyone can create polls on Twitter in just a few taps, people can weigh in on all the topics they care about.

It is now easy to get the public’s opinion on anything – what to name your car, which issue when it comes to elections, people care about the most – there is no better place to get real time answers than on Twitter. For poll creators, it’s a new way to engage with Twitter’s massive audience and understand exactly what people think. For those participating, it’s a very easy way to make your voice heard.

Previously, Twitter has offered a few ways to participate in polls — Tweeting questions and tracking replies, tallying hashtag votes, or asking followers to favorite or Retweet to vote. Now, you’ll be able to create your own two-choice poll right from the compose box and it will remain live for 24 hours. You can vote on any poll, and how you voted is not shared publicly.

Over the next few days, Twitter will be rolling out the ability to create polls on iOS, Android, and on desktop at twitter.com. Once you see the poll icon shown above in the compose box, give it a try and create your own poll!

Safaricom controls 90 per cent of industry earnings amid complaints by rivals over dominance

Safaricom dominates the Kenyan mobile market, sweeping up more than 90 per cent of revenues in areas such as voice calls and text messaging, according to regulator data that could further fuel a debate about competition in the industry.

Rivals like Airtel and some officials have complained that Safaricom's dominance stifles competition. France's Orange is seeking to sell its Kenya operation, becoming the second international operator to quit the country after India's Essar Telecoms sold its yuMobile business in 2014. 

Safaricom, in which Britain's Vodafone has a 40-per cent stake, has dismissed accusations it hampers competition, saying it does not abuse its dominance.

Safaricom's revenues from calls amounted to a 91.63 per cent market share in 2014, while its closest competitor, Airtel, had 8.33 per cent, according to the data obtained from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

In text or short messaging services, Safaricom had more than a 90 per cent share of total market revenues from that segment, the regulator said.

In mobile data, or internet services, Safaricom's revenues were 85.50 percent of the market share in 2014, while Airtel had 14.43 percent, Orange had 0.01 percent and Equitel, operated by Equity Bank's subsidiary Finserve, 0.06 percent.

The figures for Orange are for 2013 as it had not submitted audited accounts for 2014 to the regulator, CA said.

CA said in August that it was amending the telecom sector's competition law, but said it was not targeting Safaricom or any other company. It did not aim to penalise any company just for being dominant, but only if there was abuse of its position in the market.  

The regulator's head, Francis Wangusi, said at the time the new regulations would break down the telecoms sectors into segments including mobile and fixed voice, data, text messaging and mobile money transfer services. 

Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said the current market situation was limiting innovation and consumer choice and driving operators out of the country. "The sector is unable to attract new or incremental investments from other international players," said Adil.